August 2, 2008

Fig. 1 and 2: Axial (1) and sagittal (2) CT images of a 55-year-old man with right lower quadrant pain show a sausage-shaped cystic lesion (red arrows) with a thin rim of calcification (blue arrow) in the appendix.

Mucocele is an abnormal accumulation of mucus in a dilated appendix.

Three distinct pathology of mucocele are 1. mucosal hyperplasia, 2. mucinous cystadenoma (most common) and 3. mucinous cystadenocarcinoma. They are indistinguishable on imaging.

Preoperative diagnosis is important. Careful handling during surgery reduces a risk of rupture and development of pseudomyxoma peritonei.

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